Who is China?

In this review-essay for Foreign Affairs, I review Xu Guoqi’s new book, The Idea of China: A Contested History, and try to answer the question of what is today’s China–in other words, why is China’s national identity so confused?

Is it simply a continuation of the Qing empire–in other words, an amalgam of conquered peoples held together by a ruling house, this time around a ethnic Chinese one? Or is it truly a nation-state comfortable in its borders and its identity? If so, then why does it resort to violence to control the fifty-five non-Chinese nationalities who live inside its borders? And for over a century why has every significant political change be accompanied by violence–from the end of the Qing, the rise of the Republic, its overthrow by the Communists, the overthrow of the Maoist regime, and now the overthrow of the Dengist regime, which has seen the Xi administration engage in a series of endless purges.

Confusion confusion and unease is a topic I’ve dealt with previously, especially in The Souls of China, which looks at the spiritual underpinning of today’s China. It’s one of key challenges that modernizers have dealt with since the late 19th century. The government’s cocern about this also underpins its efforts to control history, which was the topic of my last book, Sparks: China’ Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future.

Please read the FA essay here. (It’s behind a paywall but you can sign up for a free article or DM me and I’ll send a PDF.)